San Jose-based DiNapoli Capital Partners and New York-based Apollo has paid $84 million to acquire the 489-room Marriott City Center hotel in downtown Oakland, according to several sources that track hotel sales.

Heather Turner, a managing director for DiNapoli in its El Segundo regional office, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment for this story. A company official stated that she worked on the transaction for the firm.

This trade is one of the biggest hotel asset trades in Oakland in recent times. “This deal represents the first major hotel property in Oakland to be sold in some time. I think it reflects that investors are taking a fresh look at the city based on its improving lodging market and also because it’s been difficult to acquire assets in San Francisco,” says Mark McDermott, senior vice president of CBRE Hotels in its San Francisco office.

The deal also points to a significant difference in the price points for hotel sales in the two markets. The sale of the property in Oakland comes in at $171,000 per room. Many of the hotel sales in San Francisco over the past couple of years have been at $500,000 per room or higher. There is a deal pending for the 158-room Mandarin Oriental San Francisco hotel that would create a new record price of around $1 million per room. New York-based Loews Hotels & Resorts is the buyer.

There also is a difference in the two markets from an occupancy standpoint. “The hotel market in Oakland is performing well, but not quite as strongly as the San Francisco market. According to our PKF Consulting division, 2014 vacancy for hotels in Oakland/East Bay was 79 percent versus 87 percent in San Francisco,” said McDermott.

The seller of Marriott City Center is Los Angeles-based CIM Group. A company representative did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story. According to a prepared statement by the seller, it had acquired the Oakland property in 2007. It represented the firm’s first asset acquisition in downtown Oakland.

There is a feeling that there is enough activity in the Oakland market that development of new properties might not be too far off. “The hotel market in Oakland for the first time in a long time is attracting enough investor interest where development might be a possibility in the near future,” said McDermott.